Reem’s California in San Francisco has enforced a policy preventing armed on-duty police officers from entering their premises. As reported by KRON4, this policy was established at their 2901 Mission St. location. The procedure gained attention recently when a San Francisco police officer was refused service at the restaurant.
Reem’s took to Instagram to clarify their stance, stating that this measure was implemented as a sign of solidarity with minority groups and as a means to ensure safety. However, San Francisco’s Police Officers Association (POA) countered with a post pointing out the absence of any signage at Reem’s informing visitors of this policy, leading to the officer unknowingly walking in.
“NO COPS ALLOWED,” declared the San Francisco Police Officer’s Association on X, the platform previously recognized as Twitter. “This is the stated policy of the bakery chain, Reem’s. Over the past weekend, one of our officers was turned away because he was in uniform. Reem’s has verified their policy of not serving individuals who are both armed and in uniform. It’s assumed this might extend to US Military personnel as well.”
The San Francisco POA stated, “While we don’t demand service from Reem’s or any establishment with a discriminatory policy, we ask them to be transparent about their discriminatory rules. A clear sign would let us know where not to spend our money, whether we are on duty or off.”
Reem’s, an establishment offering Arab cuisine with branches in San Francisco and Oakland, verified that the incident occurred at their Mission neighborhood location. However, they clarified that their policy pertains to all individuals carrying weapons, and officers are welcome to visit when off duty.
This refusal to serve the police isn’t the first incident of its kind in San Francisco. Earlier in the year, a cashier was terminated from a local pizzeria after declining service to a police officer.
In a similar event in 2021, Hilda and Jesse, a San Francisco-based restaurant, apologized for not serving three on-duty SFPD officers.
There is a notable history of the San Francisco Police Department being accused of exhibiting bias in their actions against racial minorities. Data from Mapping Police Violence reveals that Black individuals are 6.5 times more likely to be shot by SFPD officers than white individuals, and Latinx individuals have a 3.6 times higher likelihood.
